Tens of thousands of Turks protested Sunday against the country's Islamist-rooted government.

The demonstrators chanted "Turkey is secular and will remain secular" as they gathered in Samsun. The Black Sea port is where modern Turkey's secular founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, launched the country's war of independence.

Pro-secular demonstrations have also been held in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, where more than one million people protested against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government last week.

Mr. Erdogan has expressed support for the country's secular laws. But his opponents accuse him of having a secret Islamist agenda.

Turkey's main opposition party, the pro-secular Republican People's Party and the left-wing Democratic Left Party formed an alliance last week to contest July parliamentary elections.